Washington — The United States has welcomed Somalia's reversal of a recent ban on Taiwan passports, a move that had threatened to block an upcoming visit by Taiwan's Foreign Minister to Somaliland.
Troy Fitrell, a senior official at the U.S. State Department, told the U.S. Senate this week that Mogadishu had rescinded the directive that barred the use of Taiwanese travel documents.
"I am pleased that the Somali government has reversed its passport ban and resumed recognition of Taiwan's travel documents," said Fitrell during a Senate hearing.
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He warned that countries interfering in Taiwan's foreign relations send a message of disengagement from the free world and undermine their ties with Washington. "Taiwan is a responsible member of the international community. The way a country treats Taiwan signals whether it wants meaningful relations with the United States," he added.
The passport ban, briefly enforced by Somalia, sparked outcry in the U.S. Congress, where lawmakers raised concerns that Chinese influence in Somalia was directly undermining Somaliland -- an autonomous region that has developed closer ties with the West, Israel, and Taiwan since 2020.
Several senators questioned whether the United States should pursue formal ties with Somaliland as a counterweight to China's expanding influence in the Horn of Africa. In response, Fitrell said Washington was "ready to work with any actor willing to engage with the free world."
The diplomatic spat began when Somalia imposed a ban on Taiwan passports, shortly after plans emerged for a high-level Taiwanese delegation to visit Hargeisa. In retaliation, Taiwan announced it would restrict Somali passports.
China welcomed Somalia's initial move, viewing it as support for Beijing's "One China" policy. Both China and Somalia consider Taiwan and Somaliland to fall under their respective sovereignties and have cooperated to stifle any official relationship between Hargeisa and Taipei.
Some U.S. lawmakers warned that punitive measures could follow under the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI Act), passed in 2020, which allows Washington to respond diplomatically and economically to countries that undermine Taiwan's international standing.
Diplomats close to former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration also hinted that continued alignment with Beijing at the expense of Taiwan could jeopardize Somalia's relationship with Washington.
The U.S. continues to view Taiwan as a key democratic partner in the Indo-Pacific and maintains unofficial but robust relations with Taipei, despite not recognizing it as a sovereign state. Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has increasingly attracted Western attention as a stable and strategically located ally in a turbulent region.
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